Aeroplane



July 28, 1925.

J. AQCRANE AEROPLANEY Originai File d Nov. 15, 1921 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 J." /i Crawe.

, INVENTOR ATTORNEY WITNESS:

J. A. CRANE July 28, 1925.

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July 28, 1925.

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ATTORNEY Patented July 28 1925.

UNITED STATES JAMES A. CRANE, OF PEQUABUCK, CONNECTICUT.

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Refiledjor abandoned application Serial No. 515,305, filed November 15, 1921.

January 20, 1925.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES A. CRANE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Pequabuck, in the county of Litchfield and State of Connecticut, have invented new and useful Improvements in Aeroplanes, of which the following is a specification.

This inventiongelates to improvements in aeroplanes, the principal object of the invention being to, provide a pair of oscillating wings for moving the ship vertically and a propeller which is adjustable about a vertical and a horizontal axis for steering the ship.

Another object of the invention is to provide a fan-shaped tail'for the ship which is movable about a horizontal axis, said tail acting as a brake for checking the movement of the ship and also useable as an elevating plane.

This invention also consists in ,certain other features of construction and in the combination and arrangement of the several parts, to be hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and specifically pointed out in the appended claims.

In describing my invention in detail, reference will be had to the accompanying drawings wherein like characters denote like or corresponding parts throughout the several views, and in which Figure 1 is a plan view of a ship' constructed in accordance with my invention.

Figure 2 is a side view thereof.

Figure. 3 is a section on line 33 of Figure 1.

. Figure 4: is a section on line 1- of Figure 1.

Figure 5 is a section on line 5-5 of Figure 1. i

In these views 1 indicates the fuselage of the ship which is constructed as shown in the drawings and 2 indicates a platform which extends outwardly from each side of the fuselage, these platforms forming planes for the ship. A wing 3, of the shape shown, is hingedly connected at each side of the fuselage, as shown at 4, each wing being provided with valves or flaps 5 which are arranged to open on the up-s'troke of the wing and to.close on the down stroke so as, to offer the maximum resistance to the air on the downstroke and the minimum resistance on the up stroke. Each wing is This application filed Serial No. 3,695.

given a flapping or oscillating movement by a motor 6 which is supported on the latform and which has a disc 7 on its s aft, winch is connected with the wing by the connecting rod 8.

A movable platform 9 is arranged in the fore part of the ship, said platform being hingedly connected with the ship, as at 10, so that it can be swung in a vertical plane. This platform has connected therewith a support 11 to which the base of a motor 12 is pivoted by a vertical shaft 14. A propeller 15 is connected with the shaft of this motor. The platform 9 is adjusted by. 'means of a screw shaft 16 engaging a nut 17 carried by the platform and having its lower end journalcd in a ball and socket bearing 18 so that the rotation of this shaft will cause the nut to move vertically and thus move the platform upon its pivot 10. This shaft is connected by the gears 20 with a shaft 21 which is provided with a hand wheel 22, located adjacent the pilots seat The motor 12 is rotated upon its base by means of a pinion 24 engaging a rack 25 on the motor base, said pinion being carried by a shaft 26 which is connected by a universal joint 27 with a shaft 28 having a handle 29 which isalso located adjacent the pilots seat. The shaft 28 has its squaredend engaging a socket 30 at the universal'joint. This arrangement of parts will permit the motor to be tilted by tilting the platform 9 and the motor can alsobe given a partial rotary movement to place the propeller shaft at an angle to the longitudinal plane of the ship. This will permit steering of the ship both horizontally and vertically. A fanshaped tail 31 is arranged at the rear of the ship and is rockable about a horizontal hinge 32, this movement being communicated to the tail by means of the hand lever 33 and the links 3 1, the hand lever being arranged in] a cock The ship is supported upon the pontoons 35 by the framework 36, though it will be understood that the ship may be provided with wheels instead of the pontoons.

From the above it will be apparent that the ship can be caused to ascend and decend by the'movement of thewings and it can be steered either horizontally or vertically by moving the platform 9 and the parts associated therewith. This movement of the platform will cause the propeller 15 to pull the ship either up or down or to one side or the other so [that the ship is easily steered and will respond quickly 'to' the action of the propeller. The tail iece when thrown upwardly will act as a c eck or brake on the movement of the ship and this t'ail vator. T e flappin wings will enable the ship to rise from o the ground without a running start and these wings will also enable the ship to descend upon a small clearing as the ship will not need a long runway to have its momentum checked.

It is thought from the foregoing description that the advantages and novel features of my invention will be readily apparent. I desire it to be understood that I may make changes in the construction and in the combination and arrangement of the several parts, provided that such changes fall Within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is-:

1. An aircraft comprising a body having a pair of movable and a pair of stationary supporting planes on oppositesides thereof,

and means supported by the. stationary planes and connected with the movable planes for oscillating the latter.

2. An aircraft comprising a body, .a rigid plane extending laterally fromeach side of the body, a wing hinged to each side of the body above a rigid lane, a motor supported by each rigid p ane, and a pitman the deck thereof provide iece can also be used as an ele connection between the motor and the overlying wing for oscillating the latter.

3. An aircraft com rising a fuselage structure presenting a or hull havin with a hinge po tion movable a out a. horizontal axis, a motor supported upon said movable deck portion and presenting pro elling means, and adjustable means at the iiee end of the said portion for raising and lowering the same to tilt the said propelling means.

4. A n air craft comprising a body having a deck portion movable about a horizontal axis, a motor mounted on said movable portion and having adjustment in a horizontal plane, a propeller operated from vthe motor, means for raising or lowering the said deck portion with respect to the body and means for adjusting the said motor with respect to the deck portion.

5. An aircraft com rising a body having a cock-pit and a mova le deck portion in the fore part of the body, said deck portion being hingedly mounted, means 0 erable from the cock-pit for moving the said deck portion vertically on its hinge, propellin means having a swivel support on the said deck portion, and means operable from the cock-pit for adjusting the said propelling means on its support.

In testimony whereof I aifixv my signature.

JAMES A. CRANE. 

